Too often we lose sight of the fact that photography is about capturing light, if we have the ability to take control of that light then we grow exponentially as photographers. More often than not the image is not about lens speed, sensor size, MP's or AF, it is about the light.

On the top layer I then did a quick selection of the background and made a layer mask of the selection, I then did a curves layer adjustment to that top masked layer to lower the background a bit.

On the middle layer I did a light dodge to the picture right of the girls head and backpack to take the sunlight that Neuro mentioned down a little.

Flattened and save for web.

With the full sized file you could take some time to get a good selection and you'd have much more control over the exposure. I'd process the RAW file twice and then open them as layers to get the best result. Email me if you want some help.

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Too often we lose sight of the fact that photography is about capturing light, if we have the ability to take control of that light then we grow exponentially as photographers. More often than not the image is not about lens speed, sensor size, MP's or AF, it is about the light.

Hello.I like your shot, thank you for posting it. The kids, school bags and bus tell a story and it is the one you want, their (first) school day. The colours are bright and again remind me of children at school as kids apparel/ toys etc tend to be bright and colourful, and your image reflects this. Nicely done!

But I'm undecided about the bus, mainly because it such a large background element in the image and effetively dominates the background. The grass around the base make me think the school is in a rural area and maybe this too is by design, but maybe the same image but with other kids or the school could also work? You probably have taken other shots on the same day, so if you posted those maybe you could get other feedback?

To your opening question, I like viewing and critiquing pictures taken by others because you can always learn from their composition, ideas, PP, editing and so on. And that can only help ones own skills.

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It doesn't matter where you start, it's where you finish. All that counts is the photograph.

1. Like others have mentioned, take your subject out into the sun. Let them be lit from the side or traditional 45 degree sun.If you let them be lit from behind, have them stand close to something that could maybe bounce the light back at them.Or simply choose to let the background white out a bit by exposing a stop above "proper" exposure.

2. Flash, no matter what size or kind, does not belong on a camera... The light is not very flattering and flattens out the face. You'll sometimes see fashion guys do it though.... I attribute that to lazyness.

3. Use the surroundings. Have a quick look around and see what might be near by that you can use to your advantage. Sometimes trees can provide nice diffusion or scattered light that can soften the harsh light of the sun.

Photoshopping is a matter of taste, what I like might not be what others like. Anyways here's what I would consider a small quick fix:

This is one for my kids last day of school and would like criticism and feedback. Thanks in advance.

I like the bus...it helps to tell the story of "last day of school and summer is here"...which evokes good memories for many.

I did a quick edit on my iPad using Snapseed, which is free and does a decent job. Snapseed has a tool that is called center brightness which allows you to darken and blur the perimeter of an images, while increasing the brightness of the center....all to varying degrees. I tried it on your image and here's the result.... cropped a bit.

My response to your question is a question...was the image you posted your final image? In other words, had you finished your PP work before posting this?

This is one for my kids last day of school and would like criticism and feedback. Thanks in advance.

I like the bus...it helps to tell the story of "last day of school and summer is here"...which evokes good memories for many.

I did a quick edit on my iPad using Snapseed, which is free and does a decent job. Snapseed has a tool that is called center brightness which allows you to darken and blur the perimeter of an images, while increasing the brightness of the center....all to varying degrees. I tried it on your image and here's the result.... cropped a bit.

My response to your question is a question...was the image you posted your final image? In other words, had you finished your PP work before posting this?

Good luck KC

Yeah i had but I have been processing so many images lately I did rush and do plan on reprocessing these. What about the colors? I often struggle with a cooler wb but often what appears as the light at that timeia too warm. What do you do to images like that?

This is one for my kids last day of school and would like criticism and feedback. Thanks in advance.

I like the bus...it helps to tell the story of "last day of school and summer is here"...which evokes good memories for many.

I did a quick edit on my iPad using Snapseed, which is free and does a decent job. Snapseed has a tool that is called center brightness which allows you to darken and blur the perimeter of an images, while increasing the brightness of the center....all to varying degrees. I tried it on your image and here's the result.... cropped a bit.

My response to your question is a question...was the image you posted your final image? In other words, had you finished your PP work before posting this?

Good luck KC

Yeah i had but I have been processing so many images lately I did rush and do plan on reprocessing these. What about the colors? I often struggle with a cooler wb but often what appears as the light at that timeia too warm. What do you do to images like that?

Just take the image into LR or Aperture and work it. The wb and colors are ok, it's the faces and background that are problem areas.

I only did three things to this edit: (5 minutes time again using my iPad)1. Put some extra light on their faces2. Slightly reduced some of the over exposed areas. 3. Cropped out some noisy stuff on the left and right borders. ( like that brownish colored blurry ghost on the right)

My advice, master LR or Aperture....it will do wonders for your photography.

This is one for my kids last day of school and would like criticism and feedback. Thanks in advance.

I like the bus...it helps to tell the story of "last day of school and summer is here"...which evokes good memories for many.

I did a quick edit on my iPad using Snapseed, which is free and does a decent job. Snapseed has a tool that is called center brightness which allows you to darken and blur the perimeter of an images, while increasing the brightness of the center....all to varying degrees. I tried it on your image and here's the result.... cropped a bit.

My response to your question is a question...was the image you posted your final image? In other words, had you finished your PP work before posting this?

Good luck KC

Yeah i had but I have been processing so many images lately I did rush and do plan on reprocessing these. What about the colors? I often struggle with a cooler wb but often what appears as the light at that timeia too warm. What do you do to images like that?

Just take the image into LR or Aperture and work it. The wb and colors are ok, it's the faces and background that are problem areas.

I only did three things to this edit: (5 minutes time again using my iPad)1. Put some extra light on their faces2. Slightly reduced some of the over exposed areas. 3. Cropped out some noisy stuff on the left and right borders. ( like that brownish colored blurry ghost on the right)

My advice, master LR or Aperture....it will do wonders for your photography.

Thanks I know I need to learn more about my PP workflow. It's hard when your actively shooting to make time to learn software.